Hidden horrors
by jediavatar
Summary: To newcomers, the wizarding world presents an image of wonder and awe. Yet the image is but a facade, hiding the deeper and rampant horrors perpetuated for centuries by powers corrupt, bigoted or ignorant. An exploration of the chilling and abhorrent in a series of unconnected oneshots.
1. Wrongful Imprisonment

**An exploration of the hidden horrors underlying the Harry Potter series, of which I own no part. **

The day ended cold and gloomy, the dreary atmosphere befitting uncounted ancient and sacred traditions to a small, secretive society hidden among those who saw only the blatantly visible.

Unlike previous passings, the day took on a new, present significance to those shrouded in secrecy, offering a ray of hope where all had seemed dark.

On this day, in an event befitting the nature of those it freed, a dark lord who had commanded the fear and nightmares of thousands of adult, supposedly capable and trained individuals was brought low by an infant child and magics whose nature, if ever known, had long been lost to the mists and shrouds of time. And so it was that the deepest of darkness was vanquished by the purest of innocence, if only for a time; yet the darkness left its mark on an innocence that would forever be stained by what came after.

Fearing that the young saviour (and indeed, it was noteworthy that such a self-declared noble society had required saving by chance and a child) would be in danger from those following the Dark Lord, the ancient and venerable leader of those that opposed the dark decreed to his companions – nay, followers - that the child would be placed with his closest living family. Yet this unquestionable leader of the forces of _Good_ left the infant swaddled in a blanket on a doorstep on a November night, to be discovered the next morning. Not by capable, loving caretakers, but by those who had already been revealed as questionable protectors of one to whom the world owed so much.

This action would set the tone of the interactions between the boy and the ancient for the next decade and a half.

And yet there were still more to the sordid tale. For the one charged with the protection of the child by his deceased parents was denied, by those that took his charge, the chance to fulfill his duty; his next actions were driven by anger and grief. He devoted his time to seeking out the traitor, the reason that his friends no longer lived, and confronted the rat in a street.

Alas, the one long overlooked proved his limited cunning, and the godfather was arrested as a traitor. Beneath his earth-shattering grief, however, the man felt little worry as he was arrested and placed in a holding cell, knowing his innocence would come out in the trial.

His confidence waned as he received no visits, and erupted into worry, and then horror, as he was transported to prison and thrown into a cell without the benefit of counsel or defence. He did not understand why it was he had been betrayed, but soon lost the capacity to comprehend.

For the venerable leader who had determined the placement of his charge had been worried. Many followers of the Dark Lord, backed by immense wealth and centuries of influence, had claimed bewitchment as the cause of their despicable actions, and with subtle _donations _and political maneuvering had been released with no charges. The imprisoned one had been the designated guardian of the young Saviour, and heir to one of the oldest and wealthiest families of the elite; despite his prior friction with his dark relatives, he would undoubtedly be released by their influence and welcomed with open arms for his treachery against those they despised, even though his actions had resulted in the fall of the Dark Lord.

Family was everything, and the Black family had no male heir but Sirius.

If released, Sirius Black would petition for the guardianship of Harry Potter and, with the wealth and influence of the Blacks, and his prior naming as godfather, would certainly obtain it. Resulting in the placement of the young Saviour under the control of those whose Master he had destroyed, who would undoubtedly be vengeful.

No, Black could not be allowed to go free. To allow such a possibility would be disastrous.

And so it was that the Chief Warlock allowed the possibility of a trial to slip away, turning a blind eye to the Aurors who threw Black into a place he knew to be worse than death to its inhabitants.

Nobody, once they entered the high-security wing, would ever leave as anything but a corpse. Most would die within a few years, haunted by their personal horrors and failures.

Black would experience everything the hellhole had to offer, and perhaps, if he had any hope of redemption, pay penance in reliving his betrayal.

And so it was that the prisoner was sentenced to death by torture, his guilt never questioned, his crimes never supported by greater proof than hearsay, gossip, and the inconvenience of letting him walk free.

Black himself was horrified at the recognition that there would be no rescue, no escape, that his freedom was a thing of the past.

And the horrors of his imprisonment, of the dementors and the memories and the pain, weighed upon him, tempered by the sole comfort that he shouldn't be there, that he had not been the Secret Keeper, nor had he fired upon muggles.

Yet his comfort swiftly vanished, buried beneath a storm of memories as he watched his friends fall, witnessed every burned and disfigured and disassembled body left as a gruesome trophy by those he had failed to defeat, knelt by James' pale form and wailed in despair and failure. Death and tears eclipsed his mind as he drowned.


	2. King of Serpents

**Harry Potter is not owned by me.**

_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly that the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. _–Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Though the founders of the school and the school itself are unknown, the events surrounding Salazar Slytherin's departure from the school remain shrouded in mystery. Theories abound: that he objected to the inclusion of muggleborns in the school he helped create; that he had a falling out with his closest friend, Godric Gryffindor; that he sought some far-off treasure shunned by his contemporaries; or that the whole scandal was a massive cover-up for a duel fought over clashing beliefs.

Of all the theories, his rejection of the muggle-born is most widely accepted, and indeed the belief is constantly perpetuated by present and former members of Slytherin house.

A prominent myth surrounding his role in the founding of the school was that he had built a secret chamber within its foundations, in which he stored a horror whose nature was lost to time, such that it was known only as Slytherin's monster. The inclusion of the creature among those who accepted its existence was widely believed to be intended to purge the school of those deemed by Slytherin's line as unworthy.

Regardless of his motives, it would become clear centuries later that the monster kept within the chamber was a Basilisk.

_Its methods of killing are more wonderous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death._ – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The selection of a basilisk favoured those who held the theory that it was intended to purge the school of the unworthy. Those who could speak to, and thus command, the king of serpents were extremely rare, and in Britain the only known speakers were those of the line of Slytherin. This, of course, ensured that only his line could command the serpent, rendering it useless in battle unless a speaker was present.

Furthermore, a basilisk's gaze, its weapon of highest strategic value, did not discriminate friend or foe, but made all equal in death. Such a trait limited its usefulness in any situation but a carefully planned ambush.

An ambush that would be relatively simple to arrange in a school where individuals wandered freely and a massive network of pipes allowed easy movement for the serpent.

Regardless of its purpose, it seems likely that, as the Basilisk was somehow enchanted to obey only Slytherin's line, Slytherin himself that hatched the creature, to ensure its absolute and guaranteed obedience to himself and his descendants.

_The basilisk in the chamber was 'as thick as an oak trunk' and basilisks are 'able to grow up to fifty feet long'._ – Paraphrased from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Snakes are not generally known for rapid growth once adulthood is reached; indeed, they normally grow quite slowly unless plenty of food is available. The size of the Basilisk in the Chamber indicates that the serpent had frequent access to large amounts of food.

The closest sources of food were the students in the castle and the inhabitants of the forbidden forest.

It follows that, as there were very few student disappearances and those that occurred could usually be explained and normally included a body, the basilisk likely obtained sustenance from the denizens of the nearby forest; and must have obtained it on a frequent basis, to reach such an enormous size.

Suggesting that, for hundreds or perhaps a thousand years, students wandered the grounds and dared each other to enter under the shadowed trees, unaware of the instant death awaiting them if they were unfortunate enough to encounter the hunting beast.

Indeed, the knowledge held by the acromantula of the basilisk's existence provides nearly incontrovertible evidence of its habits. For a millennia, students dared the forest alongside a beast capable of dealing instant death by the force of its gaze alone.

The sanctuary offered by Hogwarts school is but an illusion.


End file.
